Forget the Aussie accent, Tuipulotu is 'all in' on securing a Tour victory for the Lions Down Under
When the big screen at London's O2 Arena cut live to Glasgow on the day of the British & Irish Lions squad announcement earlier this month, an image of a beaming Sione Tuipulotu appeared almost instantaneously.
The Scotland captain then began to speak from the heart, emphasising his delight at Lions selection after months of injury turmoil and worry.
As he did so, there was a noticeable sense of shock in the room at Tuipulotu's Australian accent. It seemed many were somehow oblivious to the powerful centre's background.
Tuipulotu is not the only 2025 Lion whose journey began in the southern hemisphere.
He and fellow Scots Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe, as well as Irishmen Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen and James Lowe were all born and started their rugby careers in either Australia, South Africa or New Zealand.
Their selection by Lions head coach Andy Farrell has attracted criticism in some quarters, mainly from those ignorant both of World Rugby's eligibility rules and the global world in which we all live in the year 2025. Lions great Willie John McBride was one voice of note.
McBride said he was 'bothered' by the selection of those players.
But at the first Lions meet-up in Richmond over the weekend, Tuipulotu, Lowe and Gibson-Park all hit back at the critics, reiterating how much Lions selection has meant to them.
'I really wanted to be a Lion because I know how much it means to people over here,' said Tuipulotu, who made his long-awaited return from injury for Glasgow last weekend.
'I had gone all in with Scotland. I just felt what better way to prove my allegiance to Scotland than go all in and try and make the Lions? That's why it meant so much to me.
'In those early days (with Scotland), you have that feeling of 'Am I part of this?' I feel like talking is one thing, but showing people how much it means with how I play is another. Of course, you get those feelings you want to prove yourself.
'The best way to do that is on the field and show your commitment that way.'
Well said.
It will be extra special for Tuipulotu that it is Australia, the country of his birth, who he will face with the Lions.
Tuipulotu, 28, qualifies for Scotland through his Greenock-born grandmother Jaqueline Thomson, who watched him take on the Wallabies last autumn.
'When my gran came over before the Australia game, it gave eyes to the public that my story is authentic,' Tuipulotu said. 'I'm looking forward to showing how committed I am to the Lions with how I play. I play better when there is a chip on my shoulder.
'All of that (criticism) just adds to that. I've been nothing but embraced by the Scottish public since I've been playing for Scotland. There are always going to be a couple of people (critics) like there are for some of the Irish boys, but I take that in my stride.
'I don't blame those people. I didn't grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or the Lions - that's the truth. But this is where my path has led me. I'm all in for this Lions team, for Scotland and for Glasgow. I genuinely believe this is where I'm supposed to be.
'I've been led here for a reason.'
Leinster wing Lowe qualified for Ireland under residency rules rather than through a direct relative. Now, he too is a Lion and a fully deserving one at that.
'When you don't have the blood running through your veins, there is a little bit of that (criticism),' Lowe said. 'When I was first selected for Ireland, all the people come out of the woodwork saying: 'How is this person representing Ireland?'
'I'm sure it was the same for Sione. But the rules are there. We've all done our time. I am fully embedded in the culture of Ireland. Sione's captained Scotland. You don't have to question where his allegiance lies.'
Born in Nelson, New Zealand, Lowe will become one of just a handful of players to have featured both for and against the Lions this summer. In 2017, he was part of the Mâori All Blacks side who faced the might of Britain and Ireland. Now, he is poised to wear a red shirt.
'It means so, so much,' Lowe, 32, said of his new life in Ireland. 'Leinster and Ireland have given me everything. They've made me a lot better as a rugby player, they've looked after me physically and they've given me time off to get back to New Zealand when I need it.
'It's something I'll forever be grateful for. The boys still slag me for my accent, but we are so well connected in so many ways. Everyone's got a different story. My story didn't start in Ireland. But I can see it ending in Ireland. My two kids were born in Ireland. My wife and I are super happy with everything Ireland has given us and we don't see ourselves moving.
'We've got our residency and I don't think you are going to get rid of us any time soon.'
Like Lowe, scrum-half Gibson-Park was also born in New Zealand but qualified for Ireland on residency.
'We don't make the eligibility rules. We're eligible to play,' said the man who is likely to be Farrell's first-choice Lions No 9 in Australia.
'It's not something I give a whole lot of thought to. People obviously have their opinions. That's fine.'
Lowe added: 'I've been fortunate to represent Ireland and I still pinch myself every time I get to wear that jersey. To be recognised and picked (for the Lions) is surreal. My old boy back in Nelson, where I grew up, walks around in Leinster, Ireland and now Lions kit. Everyone thinks: 'Who is this crazy old boy in all this kit?' He's just a proud boy now.'
Given his other position as Ireland boss, it will be surprising if Farrell doesn't call heavily on the players he knows well. Gibson-Park and Lowe are two of 15 Irishmen in the 38-man Lions squad. Powerful ball carrier Tuipulotu is also a likely Test starter in the centre.
He missed the Six Nations due to a pectoral injury which put his Lions place in severe doubt, but played 40 minutes in Glasgow's United Rugby Championship defeat by Leinster last Saturday. The Dublin game was Tuipulotu's first rugby since January.
'I was just stoked to get through it,' he added. 'I don't think I've been much more nervous before a game than that one because of my injury.
'It was the first time I was out for that long.'
Tuipulotu described himself as feeling 'fresh as a daisy' ahead of the Lions tour and Glasgow's end-of-season URC run-in.
He added: 'I was generally really happy playing rugby. I've looked around the Glasgow changing room recently and obviously with all the injuries we've had, some of the boys have had to play so much rugby. I've had three or four months getting my body right.
'My legs felt amazing. I'm just fresh, mentally as well. I think that's the most important thing for me. I just feel very eager to contribute. I feel kind of responsible as well because I've been out for four months. I feel like it's time for me to lift a load now and try and get us over the line again.'
Defending URC champions Glasgow face the Stormers in the first round of the league's play-off structure. Then will come the Lions in Australia. It promises to be a trip to remember, especially for first-time tourists like Tuipulotu, Lowe and Gibson-Park.
Some may have questioned their selection. But you certainly can't doubt their commitment.
'Any athlete coming back from a long-term injury battles doubts,' Tuipulotu said. 'Will you be the same player? I felt all those doubts didn't really matter because I don't doubt my appetite for the game. I wanted to be in control of whether I got selected or not.
'I believed I was doing that up to the point I got hurt. When you get that, I suppose the chance to influence the situation is taken away from you. I just felt it was over for me.
'I was emotional because I'd been playing the best rugby of my life up until that point and then you get hurt and you feel like it's all gone.
'But I believe genuinely in God's timing and I think maybe this is how my journey was supposed to go. I feel rejuvenated, fresh and ready to go and contribute.
'And that's why I speak about divine intervention. That's what I feel it is. I just feel like it's not all me. And that's why I'm just grateful. I just want to grab this opportunity because I'll never get it again - to go back to Australia and play for the Lions. Now, I feel like I'm in career-best shape mentally and physically and ready to go.'
All 38 Lions players were present at the team's first camp at various points over the course of Sunday and Monday. Farrell's squad met as a group for the first time, bonding over coffee.
They also signed Lions jerseys and undertook media, sponsorship and commercial duties. Tuipulotu, Lowe and Gibson-Park all addressed the press.
It felt like the Lions wanted to get the issue of what it must be remembered has been minimal criticism of their selection out of the way and that was a canny move.
Now, all roads lead to Australia once the small matter of domestic titles across Britain and Ireland are sorted out.
This is a tour that can't come soon enough for many, especially as the last Lions trip to South Africa in 2021 was ruined by the Covid-19 pandemic.
'I always backed myself that I could have healed fast enough to make myself eligible. With all my injuries in my career, I've come back quickly,' Tuipulotu said.
'I put that down to a lot of things, maybe my genetics. But also when I'm hurt, I don't muck around and get my body right. I put it down to my discipline.
'I'm not happy when I'm not playing rugby. I never had a doubt that I would get my body right and ready to go.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
30 minutes ago
- The National
Who's going to step up and replace Scotland's golden generation?
The youthfulness of Steve Clarke's squad for the friendly internationals against Iceland and Liechtenstein this month has, what with Connor Barron, Kieron Bowie, Tommy Conway, Josh Doig, Billy Gilmour, Max Johnston, Lennon Miller, Nathan Patterson and James Wilson all receiving call ups, certainly been heartening. The members of that nonet have an average age of just 21. Every one of them has a huge amount to offer their country at international level for many seasons to come. They have numerous qualifying campaigns left in them and hopefully a few finals too. The same is true of the injured duo Ben Doak, the Liverpool winger, and Aaron Hickey, the Brentford full-back. It was also encouraging to see the SFA roll out their Cooperation System – which will see up to three Scotland-qualified prospects under the age of 21 move freely between Premiership and Championship parent clubs and lower league outfits on loan from the 2025/26 season onwards – this week. Read more: Similar agreements already exist in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. Hopefully the long overdue scheme will enable our best prospects, who have often been prevented from gaining much-needed competitive game time in the senior ranks simply because their presence is needed to satisfy homegrown player quotas in European competition, to make the difficult transition from the age-group ranks. That initiative was one of the main recommendations contained within the Transition Phase paper which was co-authored by Andy Gould, the SFA's chief football officer, and Chris Docherty, the governing body's head of men's elite strategy and was published last year. That report contained many worrying revelations, damning findings and stark conclusions about how poorly Scotland is doing in comparison with other countries of a similar size across Europe when it comes to producing talented young footballers who are capable of flourishing in the paid ranks. But if anybody needed reminding just how few professionals are emerging, Brown Ferguson, the former Alloa, Hamilton and Partick Thistle midfielder and the current Stenhousemuir assistant manager who is also the assistant regional performance manager at sportscotland and the high performance manager to Scottish Golf, took to X (formerly Twitter) to tell us. He posted a series of alarming statistics about the Premiership last season. Here are a few of the most startling. Just 31.46 per cent of players to start games in the top flight were Scottish. That is down from 45 per cent three years ago. On average, just 3.23 per cent of players kicking off on a Saturday are under 21, just four out of 132. No fewer than 20 team selections failed to contain a single Scot. Aberdeen and Celtic didn't start an under-21 player in the 2024/25 campaign. The SFA have identified these major problems and are endeavouring to address them. The SPFL clubs, who in the past have shown they are more concerned with self-interest than the greater good, have endorsed and embraced their plans. But is it too little too late? Our leading clubs face a raft of challenges running academies and bringing through youngsters who are capable of representing their first teams every year. The issues which Brexit and raids on their age-group squads by their wealthier English rivals have presented in recent years have been well documented in these pages. Far fewer footballers who are good enough are emerging. These are pretty exciting times in Scottish football with Brighton owner Tony Bloom buying a major stake in Hearts and a consortium comprising American billionaire Andrew Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers taking over Rangers. With Hibernian a far more formidable force than they were and Aberdeen lifted by their epic Scottish Cup triumph, next season promises to be a belter. Read more: But the focus in recent weeks has very much been on how much money every club will spend and who will be brought in this summer. The new powerbrokers seem unconcerned about doing their bit to help our national game by rearing homegrown heroes. Sure, wanting to promote youth has been mentioned in passing. It appears, though, fairly far down their list of priorities. Such is the money mad modern game. There is, with Barron, Bowie, Conway, Doig, Gilmour, Johnston, Miller, Patterson and Wilson as well as Lewis Ferguson, Jack Hendry, George Hirst, Andy Irving, Scott McKenna, Scott McTominay and John Souttar all in the current Scotland squad, no reason for Tartan Army footsoldiers to panic. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) Yet, the World Cup qualifying campaign which will get underway with away games against Denmark and Belarus in September may well prove to be the last that Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes, Craig Gordon, Grant Hanley, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Andy Robertson, Lawrence Shankland and Kieran Tierney are involved in. Some will retire after it, others will stay on. But we are witnessing the last hurrah of a golden generation. Will those who come after that aforementioned group grace, as many of their predecessors did, the Premier League and the Champions League? The majority of them still have some way to go to scale the same heights as their compatriots. A few will manage it, but many won't. Clarke lamented how few goalkeepers he had to choose from when he announced his squad last month. He, or his successor, may be left bemoaning the lack of centre-backs, full-backs, holding midfielders, playmakers, wingers and strikers going forward. There must be a concerted collective effort from club owners and managers or qualification for the finals of major tournaments will be a thing of the past.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
How to follow Denmark v Northern Ireland across BBC Sport
Northern Ireland face Denmark in Copenhagen on Saturday as Michael O'Neill prepares for the World Cup qualifiers that start in match is live across BBC Sport and here is all you need to know about our coverage. TV coverage Josh Magennis and Stuart Dallas are the pundits in studio, and will join Stephen Watson for the Denmark fixture with Gavin Andrews pitchside in Kane and former NI defender Stephen Craigan are on commentary with coverage starting on BBC Two NI and BBC iPlayer from 17:40 BST Radio coverage You can also listen to the match live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Northern Ireland internationals George McCartney and Keith Gillespie join Mark Sidebottom in studio with coverage underway at 17:45 Northern Ireland defender John O'Neill alongside Joel Taggart. Online coverage You will be able to watch or listen to the match on the BBC Sport NI website with live text build-up starting from 17:00 also have in-game clips during the match alongside our live text commentary with the best of the reaction, analysis and highlights after the game.
The Herald Scotland
35 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Who's going to step up and replace Scotland's golden generation?
The members of that nonet have an average age of just 21. Every one of them has a huge amount to offer their country at international level for many seasons to come. They have numerous qualifying campaigns left in them and hopefully a few finals too. The same is true of the injured duo Ben Doak, the Liverpool winger, and Aaron Hickey, the Brentford full-back. It was also encouraging to see the SFA roll out their Cooperation System – which will see up to three Scotland-qualified prospects under the age of 21 move freely between Premiership and Championship parent clubs and lower league outfits on loan from the 2025/26 season onwards – this week. Read more: Similar agreements already exist in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. Hopefully the long overdue scheme will enable our best prospects, who have often been prevented from gaining much-needed competitive game time in the senior ranks simply because their presence is needed to satisfy homegrown player quotas in European competition, to make the difficult transition from the age-group ranks. That initiative was one of the main recommendations contained within the Transition Phase paper which was co-authored by Andy Gould, the SFA's chief football officer, and Chris Docherty, the governing body's head of men's elite strategy and was published last year. That report contained many worrying revelations, damning findings and stark conclusions about how poorly Scotland is doing in comparison with other countries of a similar size across Europe when it comes to producing talented young footballers who are capable of flourishing in the paid ranks. But if anybody needed reminding just how few professionals are emerging, Brown Ferguson, the former Alloa, Hamilton and Partick Thistle midfielder and the current Stenhousemuir assistant manager who is also the assistant regional performance manager at sportscotland and the high performance manager to Scottish Golf, took to X (formerly Twitter) to tell us. He posted a series of alarming statistics about the Premiership last season. Here are a few of the most startling. Just 31.46 per cent of players to start games in the top flight were Scottish. That is down from 45 per cent three years ago. On average, just 3.23 per cent of players kicking off on a Saturday are under 21, just four out of 132. No fewer than 20 team selections failed to contain a single Scot. Aberdeen and Celtic didn't start an under-21 player in the 2024/25 campaign. The SFA have identified these major problems and are endeavouring to address them. The SPFL clubs, who in the past have shown they are more concerned with self-interest than the greater good, have endorsed and embraced their plans. But is it too little too late? Our leading clubs face a raft of challenges running academies and bringing through youngsters who are capable of representing their first teams every year. The issues which Brexit and raids on their age-group squads by their wealthier English rivals have presented in recent years have been well documented in these pages. Far fewer footballers who are good enough are emerging. These are pretty exciting times in Scottish football with Brighton owner Tony Bloom buying a major stake in Hearts and a consortium comprising American billionaire Andrew Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers taking over Rangers. With Hibernian a far more formidable force than they were and Aberdeen lifted by their epic Scottish Cup triumph, next season promises to be a belter. Read more: But the focus in recent weeks has very much been on how much money every club will spend and who will be brought in this summer. The new powerbrokers seem unconcerned about doing their bit to help our national game by rearing homegrown heroes. Sure, wanting to promote youth has been mentioned in passing. It appears, though, fairly far down their list of priorities. Such is the money mad modern game. There is, with Barron, Bowie, Conway, Doig, Gilmour, Johnston, Miller, Patterson and Wilson as well as Lewis Ferguson, Jack Hendry, George Hirst, Andy Irving, Scott McKenna, Scott McTominay and John Souttar all in the current Scotland squad, no reason for Tartan Army footsoldiers to panic. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) Yet, the World Cup qualifying campaign which will get underway with away games against Denmark and Belarus in September may well prove to be the last that Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes, Craig Gordon, Grant Hanley, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Andy Robertson, Lawrence Shankland and Kieran Tierney are involved in. Some will retire after it, others will stay on. But we are witnessing the last hurrah of a golden generation. Will those who come after that aforementioned group grace, as many of their predecessors did, the Premier League and the Champions League? The majority of them still have some way to go to scale the same heights as their compatriots. A few will manage it, but many won't. Clarke lamented how few goalkeepers he had to choose from when he announced his squad last month. He, or his successor, may be left bemoaning the lack of centre-backs, full-backs, holding midfielders, playmakers, wingers and strikers going forward. There must be a concerted collective effort from club owners and managers or qualification for the finals of major tournaments will be a thing of the past.
